Online grocery is hot. Hundreds of players have jumped in. Several hundred million dollars were invested in 2015 alone. But it has also been a graveyard for start-ups.

The world's largest retailer by revenue has for several months been conducting indoor tests of small unmanned aircraft systems and is now seeking for the first time to test the machines outdoors.

Offline retailers need to leverage Big Data analytics and loyalty programs to drive omnichannel strategy.

Kishore Biyani is now embarking on an ambitious omni-channel strategy that he hopes will allow him to fight his online rivals better.

The reborn Future group is banking on two big breaks from the past: one, it will depend heavily on white-label FMCG to offer the cheapest and best groceries in its shops. Second, to allow customers to shop from anywhere and take deliveries anywhere as well.

While every physical retailer today is putting together its e-commerce strategy, industry experts feel that retailers need to do lot more than before to stay profitable.

Industry estimates pegged the size of retail sector at $560 billion this year, growing by 10 per cent compared with last year.

The online grocers benefit from low overheads, as they store goods in warehouses outside big cities where commercial rents are sky-high.

\"It's all about money. The e-commerce guys have money to experiment - I don't have this kind of money to blow,\" Kishore Biyani,  chief executive of Future Group, told.

In the festive season frenzy of online shopping, the big players have elbowed out the small ones, in more ways than one.

Founded by Sanjay Sethi and Radhika Aggarwal, Shopclues targets people earning relatively modest salaries. The ticket sizes are lower than what the larger e-commerce companies have, but volumes are higher.

Mukesh Bansal, CEO at fashion retailer Myntra.com, is eyeing the 'single largest fashion retailer' tag by 2015 and talks about what has worked well for his company so far. The firm also plans to differentiate through private labels, getting into the kids wear segment.

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